Jose Leal received six leagues of land in this area in 1833. Coal was discovered in 1867, the railroad reached Rockdale in 1874, and the first coal mine, owned by Herman Vogel, began operation in 1890. As other mines opened, more settlers came looking for work, including many workers from Mexico who had left behind a revolution. These immigrants settled on land owned by E.A. Camp, sharecropped to grow enough for themselves, worked in the mines, and named their settlement La Recluta, just north of the International-Great Northern Railroad tracks. Family names represented here include Ruiz, Flores, Casarez, Zapata, Aldama, Montoya and Lumbreras. Like many other industry workers at the time, the men were paid in tokens redeemable only for mine commissary purchases and doctor visits. In 1913, several men were trapped in an International Mine Company cave-in; eight men and one mule awaited rescue for six days, and one man did not survive. Near the collapsed mine entrance stood La Escuelita, the small schoolhouse built for the community's children, where classes were taught in English although most students spoke Spanish at home. As part of the Talbott Ridge School District, the students transferred to Rockdale schools in 1944 when the districts consolidated. In 1946, Rockdale merchants donated benches to the La Escuelita building, and in 1953 the school was deeded to the Saint Joseph's Cemetery Association, the support group for the community's cemetery, where nearly 300 gravestones tell the stories of La Recluta's families, many of whom remain in the area.